Why is star gazing easy on some nights and difficult on others? Pupils aim to quantify the answer in an enlightening astronomy lesson. After collecting images from an online robotic telescope, they measure the brightness of images using downloadable software. They use their measurements to calculate the quality of observing conditions the night each image was taken.

Concepts

the atmosphere, the earth's atmosphere, atmospheric conditions, telescopes

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• Use data from additional nights for a more thorough comparison

Classroom Considerations

• Data analysis skills are helpful
• Provide individuals with Internet-enabled devices

Pros

• Provides detailed instructions for both data collection and analysis
• Offers possible guiding questions

Cons

• None